I did it!

I managed to finish my first triathlon in at least 2 years. It actually felt better than the last time. By better I mean I didn’t want to die 89% of the time. And I passed more people than passed me. If that’s not progress I don’t know what is.

I came in right in the middle of the pack – 132 out of 229 and 26 out of 41 in my division (Women 30-39). I’ll take that (considering I’ve come in second to last in previous races.)

In case you’re interested, here are my rank and times for the individual events:

Swim (.25m) – 138, 10:30

Bike (5.7m) – 131, 25:51

Run (3.1m) – 122, 27:16

Overall – 132, 1:03:36

I will say that the swim, pardon my french, sucked. In the pool I’m able to do at least three strokes before raising my head out to breathe. In the open water race situation I flail my arms in something vaguely (vaguely!) resembling a swim stroke and never set my face in the water. Luckily, this happens to pretty much everyone. It’s a reaction to the potential of being kicked in the face, and, in my case, the irrational fear that I will somehow look down and see a dead body. I don’t quite know where that fear comes from but it makes for a difficult swim.

I can thank Body Pump for making me feel awesome on the bike portion. My legs are so conditioned from all the squats we do that I put my bike on the highest gear and pretty much stayed there the whole time.

The run was mostly uphill. I have nothing positive to say about that except it’s over. I did walk briefly because it is one thing to push yourself, it is quite another to perform a public display of regurgitation, if you catch my drift.